not the first time
by sessha16
Summary: It's not the first time Sokka has done it. But this time's it's dangerous, crazy and suicidal. It wasn't the first time he's stealing somebody else's girl, but he couldn't help it.
1. Chapter 1

_my second A:TLA fic. This is my first try on my favorite crack!ship - MAI X SOKKA [Maikka]. I never thought it would take this long to get into the gist of it, it was a lot shorter when i was playing the story in my mind. It's still short and I'm already working on the second part. I still have this as draft and haven't really checked for errors (coz i really barely do). But i'll be a bit impulsive and just post this part already._

_disclaimers: still the same. my name is not Mike or Bryan and i don't earn money for this little fic._

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It wasn't the first time Sokka had done it.

The first time, he didn't know. He just followed what his heart had told him, what his mind had urged him to do. It was great, it was exhilirating. The first time, it was exciting.

The second time was different, this time he knew. Sure, he still followed his heart, but his mind was against it. It was dangerous, crazy and suicidal. And if he'd be honest, it might be a bit stupid. But the feeling was true and truth be told, he also felt excited.

It wasn't the first time he's stealing somebody else's girl, but he couldn't help it. He fell, and he couldn't stop it. He'd blame his friend for letting her wander his way, but it wasn't entirely his fault. He was busy, running an entire nation and all, but to be leaving his girlfriend without nothing to do, just gave him enough reason to help her, and help him, kill boredom.

Mai is different from Yue in a lot of ways. Where Yue was ice, Mai is fire. Where Yue was consensual, Mai is a challenge. Yue was trapped in an arranged marriage and there was no love, Mai is in love, just lacking marriage and quality time with his boyfriend. Well, he guessed, maybe it was really Zuko's fault after all.

When he first decided to stay in the Fire Nation palace, it was just to accompany his sister in their duty for the Southern Water Tribe. Katara said it was their responsibilty. But all the meetings and arguing with the Fire Lord, or rather his advisors, were exhausting, he just didn't understand how difficult it was to compromise.

On one of the days when he was supposed to meet with his sister, the Fire Lord and his advisors, to discuss another treaty for the Water Tribes, he decided to skip. He knew he'd have to deal with Katara's yelling later that day, but he just had enough. He wasn't good at discussing stuff with people anyway. He already told Katara his ideas and he's sure Katara would've done so much better in explaining it for the both of them. He wandered the palace and that's when he saw her.

"Are you here for Zuko?"

"No. I got lost. The palace is so big, I don't know where I'm going anymore."

"Is that so? Maybe I can draw you a map."

"No, thanks. It would take me months to read it considering how good you are at drawing."

"He's in a meeting right now and I bet it would take the whole day till they're done with it."

"No kidding."

He's used to Mai's sighing in between her snarky comments, indicating her common boredom to absolutely everything. But the sigh that came out of her was anything but boredom. Somehow, he felt like asking.

"How long has it been?"

"Oh, I don't know. I don't even know if I'd recognize him again if I pass by him by the hall." She sighed again. Now, he knows, that's just not common anymore.

"That long huh?"

He knew she wouldn't open up to him, so he didn't really expect anything. So, he was sort of thankful when she looked at him and sort of light up.

"Would you like to spar with me? What do you say, your boomerang against my daggers."

"Are you sure? You know I already knocked your daggers once, when we first met."

"And you should also remember that I've beaten you and your gang more than a couple of times after that."

Sokka's just not one to say no to a challenge. Especially from a girl, Fire Lord's girlfriend or not.

"You're on!"

It started as just that, them spending time fighting, throwing sharp weapons at each other, trying not be killed. He would knock a couple of her daggers and stilletos and she would pin his arms on the wall. Both would be panting, catching each other's breath and he would smile and hesitantly admitting defeat to have her just walk away and leave him on his own. He'd have his practice and she'd have somebody at the receiving end of her little 'tantrums'. Tantrums, yes, that's what those are. Sokka laughed at the thought.

At first Katara didn't mind mending his clothes. She did give him lots of indignant comments on how he could allow Mai to ruin his clothes but he would just shrug at her saying it wasn't like he wasn't trying to avoid it. As days go by, the number of holes on his clothes lessened and he stopped asking Katara to fix it for him and instead had to wear the same clothes when they're fighting and just discard them when it's too torn to be worn anymore. Katara could use some to rest too.

They had stayed in the Fire Nation capitol for a few months. He didn't realize it had been that long until after one of his session with Mai.

"Took you two months." Mai had told him, his left hand on the wall, his right holding a dagger.

"Two months?" his breath trying to catch up now. He could barely talk but Mai was starting a conversation, so he thought this should be interesting.

"Well, ok. Almost two months, give or take." Mai uncomfortably shifted her weight on her left foot. She twitched her right hand only to be grabbed instantly by Sokka and be pinned to the wall behind her. Her dagger that he held dangerously pressed to her throat, made contact to more skin. A little more and she could almost feel blood trickle down her neck.

"Give it up, Mai. Just admit it. I won this time."

Mai merely smirked, her eyes never faltering. She still think she could outsmart him.

"You think Zuko wouldn't notice if you cut me there?"

Though he know this is just sparring and Zuko probably would've understood that a little cut is not unexpected out of it, but he still didn't know how Zuko would react with him leaving a scratch on his girlfriend. Sokka loosened his hold of her. He dropped his hand to his side, moved back and breathed a deep sigh. Mai rubbed her right wrist trying to let the blood flow again, hoping it wouldn't leave a mark on her skin.

"That's low, Mai. That's unfair." He flicked the dagger back to her, barely missing her left ear. Mai didn't move.

"Still took you long enough to defeat me." Mai felt smug for somebody who just lost. But Sokka took it anyway. He defeated her and she admitted it.

Mai turned around and pulled her dagger from the wall. She then walked past Sokka to pick up her other weapons scattered around the place. She also picked the boomerang lying across a pile of her stilettos and walked back to Sokka.

"Come on. I'm tired and I'm hungry." She nudged Sokka with his boomerang handing it over to him.

"I'll treat you to dinner." She seemed to not be talking to him, but instead to an invisible person standing next to him. Sokka grinned.

"I won and you're treating me to dinner? Who are you and what did you do to Mai?"

Mai rolled her eyes and turned around, leaving his question unanswered.

"Be ready in an hour and you better be on your best clothes." Mai waved without looking back to him before disappearing to the hallway.

Sokka smiled to himself, feeling stupid for doing just so.

_"I'm sorry, Zuko."_


	2. Chapter 2

_chapter 2. there's so much more i wanted to add to this chapter, but i guess i'll just add it to the next. i only thought this story will be 3 chapters long, but we'll see. still no editing done, but i'll check for later for any corrections... or maybe not..._

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"You really didn't expect I'd cook dinner for you, did you?" Mai raised an eyebrow at Sokka, who just gawked at her as she stood at the bottom of the stairs leading to their front doors. She was wearing her regal red robes, covering her equally red dress, that flowed all the way to her ankles, a yellow sash wrapped around her waist and a shawl over her shoulders with white furrs at the lining.

"No. But yes. Ok, I sort of thought-. But do you really need to dress up like that for dinner?" Sokka stummered. He didn't really don't know which ones he would word out first. No, he didn't expect Mai would cook dinner for them. Ha! He never thought Mai would be capable of domestic chores at all. She looked high-maintenance and would just order servants around instead of getting herself dirty with anything to do with household work. Cooking dinner would be out of the question.

But he thought that when Mai said he'd treat him for dinner, they'd just have to eat at her place. He didn't expect that they'd be walking to the main city, while people looked at how stupid he appeared, with his plain Water Tribe clothes with Mai beside him looking so magnificent with her noble clothes. Okay, so there was really nothing wrong with his clothes. They were decent, clean and was the best clothes he had. His Gran-Gran would be proud of him if she was to see him. But he's not in the Southern Water Tribe, he's at the Fire Nation. They wouldn't know the beauty of it even if they were given enough lecture about the Water Tribe culture. It was not the best Water Tribe clothes, but they were his best.

Mai exuded nonchalance walking quitely beside him, not even bothering to look at him. He envied her, admired her. A few months ago, before the war was over, he wouldn't have thought he would be having dinner with this skilled warrior. Whether he admits it or not, she scared him. She always had this distinctive atmosphere around her that anybody who would cross her path would be sorry they did. It didn't help that she sided with Azula then. If he'd allow it, his pride would've been crushed. But, then again, he did defeat a bunch of Fire Nation fleat during the war. Not an easy feat considering he's not even a bender. Sure, he had help, but still, that was still some achievement.

"We're here." Sokka was snapped back to reallity with Mai's stern voice. He looked at the splendid array of gold and red adorning the front entrance to an equally magnificent interior of the restaurant suitablly fit for royalty. He would've thought they went back to the palace if not for the fact that the restaurant was littered with Fire Nation Capitol commoners, which means, tons of other nobles.

"It's not much, but they serve the best Fire Nation food around here." She said as she waved to the waitress coming from around one of the tables to greet her.

'_not much'_, he chided to himself. Surely she just said that to spite him.

"Your usual place, my Lady?" The waitress said, bowing low in front of them.

Mai turned to her side to look at Sokka behind her and carefully thought for a moment before answering. "Yes, please."

The waitress stepped to the side to let them pass. It seemed that Mai has been here a lot of times before for she simply walked casually across the tables, went up the stairs, passed by some halls, turned to the right corners, before stopping in front of the an arc entrance to a room filled with the sunset light. She raised her hand to push the curtains aside and held it to the side for Sokka to follow.

To the left of the room was a balcony, facing the sunset. The sun was still on the horizon, but already on its descent towards the sea, casting an orange hue on the room. The four corners of the room is already lit with torches, but the sun's light was still too much for the torches' light to fill the room. In the middle of the room was a medium-sized short table, along with two large cushions for seats. The other sides of the room were covered with silk maroon curtains pushed to the side of the windows frames, tied with gold ribbons. '_Why does everything Fire Nation have to be red and gold?', _Sokka thought_. 'Now, I miss the blueness and the whiteness of the Water Tribe.'_

"We'll have the usual." Mai addressed the waitress that was quitely following them. Sokka's eyes widen in surprise before looking to his back to find the girl still standing outside the room. "and do you already offer seal jerky? I believe I heard a news that you now have that since some of the nobles found that _exotic_ food tasty."

"Yes, my lady." Sokka's heart made a whooping hurray inside his ribcage. This must have shown on his face for Mai could not hide the smirk she had on her face.

"An order for that too." Hearing the finality on Mai's voice, the waitress excused herself to get the food that was ordered.

Mai walked to one of the cushions, the closest one, and slowly kneeled on it, before pushing her legs to her left. She let her hands rest to her lap before titling her head to look at Sokka.

"Well, you can stand there and wait till they bring the food to us. Or you could sit down and join me in watching the awful sunset."

Sokka reluctantly walked to the other cushion and slumped down hard. Mai didn't look at him but he sensed that he had just introduded into some unchartered territory that he had no right to poke into. For a few minutes he stayed quite, just looking at the sun as it was slowly swallowed by the ocean, cutting it in half. The silence was deafening and he knew Mai wouldn't be the one to break it. He had to make the move.

"Why is Fire Nation so red-y and gold-y?" '_Nice one Sokka. Ask her about the colors'_ "Okay, so it's the color of fire, just like how Water Tribes are so blue and white because it's the color of water and the moon. But fire can be blue too." He didn't notice it but his hands are now flailing, trying to channel his nervousness, perhaps?

Mai just looked at him flabbesgasted.

"I mean, Azula's fire is blue." Before he knew it, he just made comment he was not supposed to make. '_Azula is off limits, idiot'_. Mai looked down to her hands and Sokka mentally slapped his hand to his forehead. Or he thought he did.

"Why do you do that?" Mai asked, now looking back at him. His hands are still inches away from his forehead after having slapped it. "I don't get why people have to hurt themselves just to prove they were stupid." and then she smiled.

Sokka wouldn't believe it happened if he wasn't a few feet away from her. But yes, she really smiled. A two-ends-of-the-lips-upward-to-form-a-curve kind of smile. Her eyes curving the opposite direction to complete the gesture and reflecting the color of what little the sun can manage off her amber eyes. He still couldn't believe it now that he's now seeing it.

"It's just... habit, i guess. Like how one would clap their hands when they see something they really like." He explained, acting the very same action he was just describing. The way he'd done it must have been really amusing, because now, Mai is so close to laughing.

"That's stupid. I only know one person who would do something like that." Mai's hands held onto the table in front of her, barely controlling the laughter from erupting. Just thinking of it was funny, she never even thought it would be.

"Ty Lee!" they exclaimed in unison.

With that, she let out the laughter she's been holding. It wasn't really a loud laugh, Sokka thought it was just a giggle. But coming from Mai, it was as good enough as a laugh.

"I miss her." Mai said so softly and so suddenly that Sokka would've missed it if he wasn't just about catching his breath. Mai had stopped laughing,'_ giggling'_ Sokka told himself, and was wiping the tears from the corner of her eyes. Whether it was because of laughing, '_giggling_!' he reminded himself again, or because of the unwelcomed feeling brought about by remembering her best friend, he didn't know. He's really not the best person to talk to about things like this, but there was nobody else in the room but them. Who would condone him for trying?

"I'm sure she misses you too." Sokka moved his arms to reach Mai's shoulder to somehow comfort her. He didn't know how she'd react but before he could stop himself, his arms have already decided for him. Mai tensed at his touch and he was grateful that his arms are still hole-free and that he wasn't pinned to the wall, or floor, yet.

Sokka felt Mai relax a few minutes later and he felt braver to slip his arms further to pull her to him. Mai didn't reject him and instead fell to his side and leaned on his shoulder. Silence filled the room yet again and they stayed like that, looking back into the sunset. Until Mai decided to kill the moment.

"You know, you're not Zuko." '_Duh! I thought you were smart Mai_.' Sokka inwardly congratulated himself for not voicing it out. He didn't stop himself from rolling his eyes though.

"You would've already found yourself on the wall right about now, pleading for me to let you down." Realizing where this is going, Sokka now know why she said what she said. He slowly, so very carefully, dislodged himself from Mai even when he really didn't want to. She felt so soft in his arms, he would really appreciate it if they just stayed like that for the whole evening. But he knew better.

"I'm sorry." was all he could say before Mai stopped him. Mai shaked her head and looked to face him. Both her hands pushed to the floor between them, while she leaned toward him and her eyes staring at his.

"I never thought I'd say this, but thank you Sokka." Mai smiled and he returned the smile. Mai twisted to face the sunset again. He half expected that she'd lean on him again, but he heard a familiar voice coming from outside the room announcing they're no longer alone. He wanted to curse for the interruption, but as soon as the smell of seal jerky reached his nose, he immediately rose to excitement.

"FOOD!" Sokka blurted, clapping his hands so loud in front of him that he nearly knocked Mai out of the way.

Mai just shrugged it off and let Sokka run towards the waitress, not waiting for them to set the plate of seal jerky to the table, grabbing it from the tray. He moved it to his cheeks and rubbed it there like it was some kind of a long lost baby.

He grabbed one and hungrily pulled at it with his teeth before chewing on it. He walked around Mai and dropped himself to her side again, crossing his legs beneath him. He closed his eyes as he let the meat rolled and his teeth chopped inside his mouth and let out a satisfied hum.

"This is delicious!" He exclaimed in between chewing. He pushed the plate of jerky to Mai but she just pushed it back to him, her nose twitching in disapproval.

"I'm glad you approve." Mai reached for one of the meat bun as soon as the waitress left the room.

"Thank you Mai!" Sokka swallowed the jerky and placed the plate to the table. He then leapt to hug Mai. Surprised, Mai only had enough time to hold onto the bun before she almost dropped it to the table. Then Sokka did something both of them never expected. Okay, one of them never expected. Sokka twisted Mai in his arms and cupped her cheeks to face him. Without waiting for Mai to react, Sokka closed his eyes and pressed his lips to hers.

Bewildered, Mai had only half a second to clench the meat bun in her hands. When Sokka pulled away, eyes still closed, she looked at the poor meat bun on the floor, too disgusting to eat now.

"Ugh! Seal Jerky!"

Sokka looked at himself. Yep, still on the floor, kneeling, still scratch-free. And Mai, she's still on the floor, sitting, her hands free of any sharp objects and... was she blushing?

"Don't you ever do that again!" Her eyes were menacing, but he knew there was something else beneath those threath. They were empty. He wouldn't dare ask, he'd just let it pass. Who would even dare push it. He kissed her and he's still whole. That would be enough... for tonight.


	3. Chapter 3

_i wanted a Mai-centric perspective for his chapter and was thinking of adding more Maiko. but the Maikka sort of took over and thus, this chapter. i just couldn't leave Sokka out. i was afraid of writing the fighting sequence, so that was the last part i wrote. this chapter is all over the place when i started writing it and it took awhile to try to connect each thought to make it flow correctly. at first i wanted Sokka to still be with Suki, but one of the qoutes that's been nudging in my mind made its way through here. people who seen my previous work out of might be familiar with it._

_i still don't know if this will be end of this fic... but we'll see..._

_no editting done yet, so if it doesn't make sense, i'll try to edit it next time..._

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The walk back from the restaurant was spent in awkward silence. Now that his senses were more alert, being completely satisfied with the food from the restaurant, Sokka realized that the people were not looking at them because Mai was so overly dressed, as what he would like to tell himself, or that she was walking beside a casual looking Water Tribes man, but because this is not the first time Mai has walked this way. Putting his power of observation and deduction into use, he concluded that Mai has gone to this restaurant before - with Zuko. Going to the restaurant with anybody else, other than Zuko, must have looked strange and unreal for the people of the Fire Nation. Especially knowing who Mai is and what she meant to the Fire Lord.

"I'll just walk you back to your place." Sokka interrupted Mai as they were making a turn to the Palace. "Unless you want to see if you can maybe meet with Zuko?" Sokka didn't want to sound like he's imposing, but he unintentionally did. He still couldn't read Mai despite how many days they have spent together. Many days that were spent fighting each other with unconventional talks in between fights.

Mai looked at him and lowered her head. She opened her mouth to say something but all she was able to do was nod as she turned the other way to her house.

A few more feet away towards Mai's house, Sokka noticed a Palace guard waiting at the steps. Mai also noticed it for her steps have become longer until she was actualy sprinting towards him. He felt his heart jump from his chest not knowing if he should acknowledge the budding thought that his mind had formulated.

"Good evening Lady Mai." The Palace Guard kneeled in front of her as soon as Mai stopped. "The Fire Lord has requested for your presence."

Mai's hand moved and Sokka could see her eyes lighten up at the announcement. He couldn't understand it but instead of being happy for her, his heart sunk. Mai turned to him and without speaking a word, he forced himself to smile.

"I'll walk with you."

It still puzzles Sokka why Mai insists on living at their house instead of living in the Palace. He's sure Zuko must've already asked her to stay is one of the Palace chambers. Zuko once told him that Mai didn't really like her parents or her little brother. It's not that she hates them, but rather, she just didn't enjoy being around them too much. Her parents were controlling and her little brother is still a toddler and she admitted she doesn't know how to take care of him. However, Zuko said that Mai considers them her family and that was just that.

But Sokka thought there's another reason - she's afraid. She's afraid that once she let herself get into deep, she'd only hurt herself. Mai is an intelligent girl and even when Zuko had so openly expressed his feelings for her, nothing is set on stone. Everyone in Zuko's circle of friends is aware of her love for him, what with defying Azula and all, but somewhere along the time he was out in the world and the people he'd met, she's still not assured of him. The idea itself is absurd and that's why it still puzzles him. Again, he just doesn't know Mai well enough yet.

Mai doesn't talk alot. Sometimes, she just doesn't talk at all. When they're sparring, Sokka always had to start talking, both to start a conversation and as a way of distracting her. He would talk about alot of things, how she learned about throwing knives, what she did most of the time when she was a kid, what's her favorite food, her favorite place, her favorite time of the day. In one of their sparring sessions, he inadvertently asked her about Zuko. That was the day he discovered what ticked her. He never thought it possible, but even the most blase person can slip sometimes.

* * *

"Why don't you see him at night? I'm sure he's done with all the meetings by then." Sokka casually blocked a dagger that Mai had thrown at him using his sword. He switched his footing and leaned forward to gain advantage of how Mai's arms were extended towards the ground to push more daggers to her open palms.

But Mai was quicker. She saw Sokka's aim and moved to her right before Sokka was able to swing his boomerang to her side. "He's still got some papers to work on."

"By midnight?" The boomerang made a swooshing sound before it made a thud as Sokka caught it with his hand, just in time to block more daggers that Mai threw at him.

"He's tired." Mai skidded to the bare plank and hid behind it, releasing an arched tri-star blade from her sleeves.

"Before breakfast?" Sokka prepared for the attack. He ran toward the opposite side of the plank and was a few feet from it before Mai peeked from where she's hiding to throw the blade to Sokka.

"He needs all the rest he can get." Mai ducked as Sokka swung the boomerang towards her one more time aiming for her arms. She barely missed it and her left bun had suffered the attack.

"Why don't you just ask him. It's not like he wouldn't welcome you if you ask." Sokka looked as Mai scrambled to her feet, grabbing her hair in an attempt to keep it place. His boomerang dropped on the floor making a clattering sound. It was too risky to try and retrieve it, so he held unto his sword tighter.

"He doesn't need somebody adding pressure to his busy schedule." Mai ran as far from Sokka as possible. The closer he gets to her, the more advantage he have on her. Without his boomerang, he would try and engage her with close combat. Using one of her smaller stilettos, she was finally able to secure her left bun.

"You know he'd make time for you. I bet he'd cancel his meetings just so he can make his girlfriend happy." Sokka looked around. Without his boomerang, he's only got his sword to fight with. He picked one of Mai's daggers and held it with his left hand.

"Me or his nation? I believe he's already made his choice clear before." Mai's brow meet, her eyes narrowed. She doesn't want to remember that.

"Oh come on, Mai. That was before the war has ended. It's different now. If what you told me is true, not that I'm doubting you or anything, but not being able to spend with somebody you love just sucks." he meant it to be joke, to lighten the mood. But the effect of it was far from being humurous.

"Don't you think I understand that? Why do you think I'm here throwing things at you?" Mai had shouted. She threw a series of stilettos towards Sokka in quick succession. Sokka was too surprised with Mai's words that he barely missed a couple that was sure to pin his flesh. This is not a real fight and Mai knew that. But her concentration is a bit off now. Sokka thought that it might not have been a good idea to ask her about Zuko.

Mai noticed how close it was injuring Sokka and felt afraid for him. She dropped the rest of the blades she had in her hands and turned around, her back facing Sokka. It was not like her to lose herself in a conversation, especially when fighting, but the feelings were just too stubborn to hold back. She's been compressing it far too long and now, the thin line keeping her feelings on check is just about break.

"Let's call it a day. I'm tired." She left without waiting for Sokka to answer. She didn't even bother picking up her weapons and hurriedly walked away. Sokka could just look at her feeling his heart pumping hard. He almost lost his footing and was close to dropping to his knees. He gathered his thoughts and tried to catch his breath before beginning to pick up the carnage of blades, daggers, stilletos and his boomerang from all over the place.

The next day, he went to Mai's place to return her weapons. By the end of the day, they continued the same way they had, like nothing ever happened. But Sokka felt that he's just made a bit of connection with Mai - far more than what neither of them really expected.

* * *

_"It's not the distance that separates us. It's the time we haven't spent with each other."_

Suki once told him that. He didn't understand it then and felt that Suki was just being stupid to break up with him and was just making excuses. How can it be different. He was in the Southern Water Tribe and she was in Kyoishi Island. They couldn't spend time together because they were too far from each other. He offered to stay with her in Kyoshi Island to work things out. But Suki said it was too late and it was for the best they break up. Although, she requested that they stay friends - for old time's sake.

He was so hurt and it didn't occur to him that his time away from Suki has slowly torn them apart. He loved her and she loved him. He couldn't understand how she could just decide to end it.

Now, seeing what's happening between Zuko and Mai, he was finally able to understand what Suki told him. It was not really about the distance. You could be sitting beside the person you love and still feel to be miles away from them. It's the worst way of missing somebody, he concluded.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He said before Mai turned to one of the corner. "And... Good night!"

Mai nodded and turned away, disappearing towards Zuko's chamber. Sokka let out a deep sigh before opening the door to his room.

_"At least one of us is getting a good night."_


	4. Chapter 4

_i'm in a slump... i guess it's because of the fact that i've been debating with myself over ending this as maiko or turning it into a full blown maikka. maiko is my OTP but maikka is my crackship and i feel bad for making mai a cheater... and then there's zuko getting lots of love..._

_well, we'll see where this gets me... you can blame/thank The Garden of Everything by Steve Conte and Maaya Sakamoto for getting me back to finishing this... i wanted a little fluff after that last angsty chapter but i didn't imagine it'd be like this..._

_i don't seem to like this one... the longest chapter so far, and there's too much talking... force-writing is very bad..._

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The day after their "dinner", and after Mai was summoned by the Fire Lord, she didn't return to the palace. Sokka wasn't sure if she didn't come, or she hadn't left. All he knows is that when he went to their training ground, he was greeted by utter silence.

That didn't stop him from throwing away his boomerang and pretending he's still sparring with some invisible foe. He would run toward his pretend enemy, sword at the ready and would swing at it mercilessly until it hits nothing and would lead him to try to stop his midturn before he drops his back to the ground, arms sprawled at his sides. It somehow helped him vent out some repressed frustration.

At midday, he decided it was a waste of time and headed back to the palace and went straight to the kitchen. After grabbing a few food to eat, he went back to his room and stayed there for the rest of the day.

Later that evening, Katara visited him.

The next day, he was greeted by the same stillness of the training ground. But instead of trying to train by himself, he strode away from the barren place and went to Mai's house.

He wasn't really sure what he'd say to her when he sees her or if he would meet her there but his mind wouldn't be put to rest unless he tried. He needed to tell her and he wouldn't let this day go by without letting her know.

The servant that invited him in seemed to have expected him. That didn't surprise him though, since this is not the first time he'd visited Mai. But when the servant led him outside, he wasn't really expecting to be heading to a garden. As the servant left him, it was only after she closed the door that he took the time to look around and to spot Mai sitting on a bench at the gazebo. Okay, so he did expect to see Mai, but not in the gardens. She appeared to him as somebody who'd kill anybody who even thought of getting her to stay in a place with so much earthly colors for even five minutes.

However, because of the drop of the temperature in Fire Nation, the state of the gardens were not as vibrant as he thought it might have been. There were fewer flowers that were in bloom and one can count it in one hand. The whole garden seems so... gloomy. So he thought, it was just perfect for her.

The garden was plushed with different types of plants, small trees, Sokka wouldn't know the name of. The ends of the garden, near the walls, were tall trees that blocks the outside scenery, making it seem that the garden was meant to be hidden as a secret. To the right of the garden was a stream running towards the right of the gazebo were it ends to a pond that shelters a handful of colorful fish, with black and orange spots on different places for each individual. Sokka would know what they are but he'd never seen such colorful fish before. Must be something just for decoration, might not be edible at all, Sokka thought.

The left of the garden were where all the lush plants were. He looked at the small tree planted to a small pot with wires that held it to the piece of land that was on top of a table surrounded with simillar looking pots and felt sorry for it. He didn't understand why would anyone want to do such a thing to plant? No, it's not a plant, it's a tree. Trees were not supposed to be on pots, it's supposed to grow on the ground. He thought to himself.

He shook his head and looked ahead to look at the person of his intended visit. The gazebo was located at the far end of the garden, straight ahead from the door. In the middle was table with a teapot and a couple of cups. Was she expecting a visitor? Or maybe, she just had one? Mai was sitting on the bench on the left, across the pond, leaning back, holding a cup on her left hand and the saucer on her right.

"You meet with Zuko one night and you're already ditching me. Mai, I'm hurt." Sokka joked and was rewarded by Mai's deathly glare. "Well, nice to see you too."

"You're lucky I'm holding one of Mother's china. I wouldn't mind dropping them for a dagger at either of your sides, if it weren't." Mai retorted. She leaned forward and gracefully placed the cup and saucer to the table in front of her. Sokka took this time to walk towards the steps to the gazebo and settled next to Mai. "Oh, please don't wait for me to ask you to sit down."

"Why, thank you!" Sokka sarcastically replied. "Had any visitors?" He pointed to the cups. They were obviously been used. One of the cups were still half full.

"How very observant." She scoffed. "... and it's none of your business."

Sokka pouted. "Well, will you at least offer me some tea?"

"Help yourself." She didn't look at him and crossed her arms on her chest.

"No more cups? Can I use yours? I'm really thirsty." Before she can even answer, Sokka grabbed her cup and began pouring tea from teapot. All she could do was look at him in bewilderment as he blew on the warm tea and placed the same part of the rim she drank from to his lips and sipped the tea. She closed her eyes and leaned back, crossing her right leg over her left.

"Woo! That's a superb tea." Sokka exclaimed after finishing his cup of tea. "Not nearly as good as Uncle Iroh's though. His tea is heavenly!"

He leaned to the table once again and poured another cup of tea and tilted his head to face Mai. "So, what happened? Wait..." He placed the teapot back to the table and shifted on his seat so he can still face Mai. "... spare me the moochy stuff."

"Nothing." She replied almost nonchalantly. Without noticing it, she untangled her right arm and her hands reached the piece of metal dangling from a gold string on her neck. Sokka noticed it. As he sipped from the cup, he tried to peek at the thing that Mai has been so intently playing around her fingers with. From his position, he can barely make out what it is, but he knows it's circular. Almost, like a ring.

"Mai! Is that what I think it is?" Sokka almost sputtered the tea as he spoke his surpise. He pointed at the thing on Mai's chest and Mai immediately clutched at it with her hand, hiding it further from Sokka's eyes.

Sokka's not familiar with Fire Nation's culture. It's not like the Souther Water Tribes teach them anything about Fire Nation, except they are murderous people who all want people dead so they can bask in the glory of being the most powerful nation in the world. What would he know about betrothal gifts?

Mai closed her eyes and sighed. The sigh sounded deflated, even for Mai. She released her grip on the ring - Sokka was now sure it was a ring. It was a gold ring - a golden dragon ring. The head of the dragon formed a half arc as it twisted to face its hind claws. Its front claws and teeth are gritted to a red jewel that is shaped as a flame. The dragon's tail is what forms the ring and it stops at its head just below the front claws.

Now, Sokka almost regret having to ask her about it. He felt his stomach turn and he could feel his heart being on a vice-grip making it want to stop beating. His hands shook as he placed the cup back to the table and pushed himself to the far end of the bench and leaned back the same way as Mai had.

He was somewhat grateful that she didn't answer. He didn't want to know anymore.

"Katara said they're done with Southern Water Tribes treaties. We can go home now." He broke the uncomfortable silence. Maybe that's why Zuko had time to meet with Mai the night before. He had some free time, he concluded. Somehow he now wished, Katara had made more demands. Like that would change anything.

"Oh. I see." was her only reply.

"I don't want to go. I thought I could stay in Fire Nation for a while." He turned his head to look at her. "You know, to _play_ with you, when you're bored."

"Oh!" She stayed intent on looking away from him. "And why would you do that? Just because you won once, doesn't mean I'll let you win the next time."

Sokka pushed himself to face Mai again. This time, he moved closer to her which in turn made her look at him.

"Because, I like you." He might've blushed, he might have stuttered. But at the heat of the moment, he really couldn't tell. His hands were sweating and his heart was pumping so mad, like he'd just run a million miles.

"Well, that's a nice sentiment, Sokka." The hitch on her voice and the blush on her face betrayed her composed demeanor. "But you know, Zuko already proposed to me."

"But you haven't accepted it yet." He said matter-of-factly. "Rings are meant for the fingers, Mai. Not in a golden string on your neck."

Mai hunched forward. It was not like her to appear so disheartened and this made Sokka realize that this is as troubling for her as it was for him. Sure, they may be on different levels, but she's not taking this easily. He couldn't think it's because of him. '_Yeah, right? Dream on, Sokka_.' Whatever it is, he's not sure if he'd want to help her or not. This may push her further away from him or maybe the opposite.

"Look, I love Zuko." With the way she said it, it was as if she was convicing herself rather than convince Sokka.

"Don't you think I know that. Mai this is difficult for me. But I want to stay because I want to be with you." He reached to touch her shoulder but she swatted it away.

"Stop!" She exclaimed. "Just stop, okay." She continued in a much softer voice. After a few minutes, she stood and walked over to the opposite side of the table, overlooking the pond. Sokka could only follow her with his eyes, afraid that she'd ask him to leave if he didn't give her the space she needed.

Standing with the midday sunlight, barely scaping the leaves of the trees surrounding the garden, Sokka couldn't help but wonder at how sophisticated Mai was. The little light that managed to touch her, revealed her flawless skin and made her hair shine more. She rested her hands on her elbows and looked at the fish as they swam, not mindful of the turmoil going on inside her head.

"When we were kids, Azula always invited me over to the palace to play with her along with Ty Lee." Mai suddenly recounted, snapping Sokka out of his reverie. "But there were times, most of the time, actually, that she likes to play dirty. One time, it started raining, and while we were standing under our make-shift umbrella, she threw mud at Ty Lee. It started a mud throwing game with just the three of us. I was winning of course, since I can easily dodge the mud flung at me and I can aim at them better than anyone. Azula hated losing. So, when Zuko passed by, she threw mud at him and it hit him on his shoulder. When he joined in on the ruckus. I wasn't really paying much attention to him, for I knew that he would never hit me or Ty Lee. I thought his only aim would be Azula. I didn't expect that when I accidentally threw the mud at him, since Ty Lee successfully avoided one of my muds, hitting his face, that he would take revenge and hit me straight on the face."

"Mai, why are you telling me this?" Sokka interrupted.

"Because, Zuko was the first person who's ever defeated me." She said monotonously. She spun around to look at Sokka and breathe in as much air as she can breathe before continuing. "And you were second."

"I..."

"I can't see you again Sokka. It's best if you leave the Fire Nation." She said with much determination. She didn't wait for Sokka to reply and walked to the steps of the gazebo and the walk path towards the door leading to the inside of the house.

Just as Sokka realized what Mai had meant, he sprung to his feet and run to catch up to Mai.

'_Oh darn, she's gonna kill me for this, but.._.'

As he reached Mai, he grabbed her shoulder and gripped at it so hard to stop her from moving forward. He turned her around to face him and held her in place by gripping both her shoulders. Before Mai could utter a word, Sokka closed the distance between them by planting a kiss on her lips. Mai eyes widened and gasped at the impact and tried to squirm away from his grasp. But Sokka's hands were stronger and tightly keeping her in her position and she couldn't get free. A few seconds into the kiss and Sokka felt Mai relaxed. Her eyes closed and she was responding to his kiss. He felt her hands reaching out to his arms softly holding onto it and his grip on her loosened. Instead of forcing away from him, Mai raised her hands from his arms to reach for the back of his neck. Sokka's hands left her shoulders to wander to the back of her waist, bringing her closer to him.

'_oh crap! Zuko's gonna kill me._'

When they pulled apart, Mai despondently rested her head on Sokka's chest. Sokka held her close, not wanting to let go.

"I hate you!" Her voice was soft and so emotional that it betrayed every meaning of the word. "You, you're everything Zuko isn't... everything I'm against. You talk too much, incredulous, insensitive, crass, and we clash. Why does it have to be you? Why of all people does it have to be you. You... you're Zuko's _friend_!"

"Mai..."

"They're expecting me to marry Zuko. They _want_ me to marry Zuko." She snaked her arms around him, clutching at his shirt.

"They?"

"The council. They asked why I still haven't agreed to Zuko's proposal. Zuko must've absent-mindedly told them. I told them, it's too early for a wedding. I couldn't tell them... I couldn't tell them, I'm confused."

"Mai..." Sokka carefully untangled Mai from him and pushed her chin to look up at him. "I can't tell you how happy this makes me." She scowled at him. "But, I know how crazy this is, as well. But I want you to know, that I will stand by whatever decision you make. Whether you decide to marry Zuko, though that would probably kill me." She rolled her eyes. "Or you pick me, I will always want to be with you."

"So, are you telling me we'll have an affair?" She raised an eyebrow at the question.

"Well, if you put it that way..." He looked away, a smirk on his lips.

"Sounds interesting, but dangerous. I don't want to hurt Zuko." Her lips thinned, her brows furrowed.

"I don't want to do that either. But what he doesn't know, won't hurt him?" He looked at her again, smiling to hide the darkness of the thought.

"That's something that Azula would say." This time, it was her who looked away,

"That bad? Well, I blame you. You made me like you." He cupped her chin forcing her to look at him again, closing in for another kiss. But Mai pulled away.

"Back at you! Stupid!" She slapped his shoulder. Sokka winced and leaned closer again as Mai allowed him for another kiss.


	5. Chapter 5

_a little trivia: (1) the ring i described on the last chapter was based on a real one, though badly described =/, the real ring is actually silver and doesn't have the red jewel on it. it's not a bethrothal gift either. (2) the kissing part was actually the first time i've tried writing about a it. it was awkward and i tried to make it original, but oh well, i said i tried. (3) this is by far the longest multi-chapter fic i've written. never really thought i'd write this far. thanks for the comments and the faves._

_for the record, i hate cheaters, that's why i really felt bad making mai a cheater. i don't see the point of having zuko his own "other woman" just to balance things out. zuko has received lots of love in other fics, so i'm thinking of 'torturing' him a bit on my fic. (sorry zuko)_

_now, i'm going to try and stir this story back to the one i had in mind when i first started this fic. here's to hoping the story doesn't control me._

_ok, so fluff time... or so i hope... =)_

_

* * *

_

Mai felt the cold breeze drift through her, causing strands of her hair to sway out of place and land on her face. Feeling the hair on her skin stand up at the involuntary shudder, she snuggled closer to Sokka.

Sokka was immune to the cold. Living in the icy plains of the South for his entire life, that was of course until he was _forced_ to leave for the sake of the Avatar, the cold wind of the Fire Nation was like just staying outside of his home for a day in the sun. No, it's nothing even compared to that, not even close to it. He could even break a sweat in this _cold_ Fire Nation weather.

He looked at Mai and inwardly smiled. She would never survive five minutes in the South Pole. Holding her clothes close to her like some kind of blanket to gather as much warmth that it can offer against this _slightly_ chilly afternoon, he wondered what it do to her if he brings her to see his family.

He chuckled at the thought. Not even a day and he's already thinking of bringing her home.

"What's funny?" Mai tilted her head to look at him.

"Nothing. Just some silly thought." He held her waist firmly and pulled her closer to him, causing her to jerk. It took a few seconds before she relaxed at the touch and pushed herself tighter to him, feeling comfortable with some human warmth.

"That better be not about me."

Sokka bit his tongue. He didn't want to lie to Mai, but he wouldn't want to spoil the moment either. Instead, he reached for her hands and began rubbing at them.

"Why don't we go inside. You're freezing."

"Mhn-hmm... you're keeping me warm." She purred. "And besides, Mother will be returning shortly later. She'd freak out if she saw us like this."

"You think she wouldn't just barge in on us anytime?"

"She wouldn't expect me to be here."

"Will the servants not inform them?"

Mai sighed and pulled her hands from Sokka. He tried to reach for them again, but along with her hand, she pushed herself away from him as well. Perplexed, he turned his head to look at her.

"Fine." Mai said as she stood from the bench and strode pass Sokka, not sparing him a look. Sokka could only follow her with his eyes, regretting ever mentioning anything.

_'Way to go Sokka.'_ He mentally kicked himself for being such a moron. Isn't he supposed to be the charming one here? Instead, he's chasing away the girl he's trying to charm.

"Wait!" He ran after her, stopping in front of her to face her. "Look, I was only thinking of you. I didn't mean to..."

"It's ok." She stopped him in mid-sentence. She didn't want to hear it. She didn't look at him. She pondered for her next words, but nothing came. She then busied herself looking intently at the patch of earth near Sokka's shoes. When he placed his hand on her cheek and lifted it up to his level, she shifted her eyes to the wall near the door, past his head.

She raised an eyebrow when she heard Sokka laugh, feeling irrirated. Apparently, he found this situation amusing. She raised her hand prepared to swat at his hand when he started to speak.

"You're so cute, Mai." Her eyebrow curved higher and she could only imagine how it would've looked if it reached the ends of her forehead. Now, that's just outright ridiculous. Is he mocking her?

"I never would have thought you'd be this... this... emotional." His looked from side to side as he searched for the right word. Like the garden is a dictionary and looking around would help him find it. Mai couldn't help but roll her eye.

"I could almost see you pout." He laughed again. Mai narrowed her eyes, obviously not amused. "But really, you are _sooo_ cute." He piched her cheeks to emphasize his meaning. That earned him a scowl from Mai.

"Now, let's get inside to get you _warm_" Sokka drawled. Mai's cheeks flushed red and Sokka's smile got even wider. "See, you're even cuter when you're blushing."

Mai could only slap Sokka's shoulder as a retort. The strength of the slap was not even hard enough for her liking. Darn Sokka and his way with words.

"Stop saying that." Mai said after she finally managed to find her voice.

Sokka pecked a kiss on her lips before grabbing her hands to lead the way back inside of the house. Mai looked at their entwined hands before stepping forward to follow him.

"You think the servants can prepare some food for us? I'm starving!"

* * *

_argh! i lost... the story controlled me again... sigh... this one's short though... just couldn't sleep, so i thought i'd write something... =_=_


	6. Chapter 6

_this fic had been on a standstill... it's not that i didn't know what to do with it, but just the opposite... i had tons of ideas that it scared me... i had some snippets written down and i was just waiting for the inspiration to hit me before i start really writing it... some ideas i had to scrape off and some were retained..._

_long story short, this chapter will be quite long... i wanted to split it into two chapters, but without the first, the second would be completely lost..._

_and yes, maiko will be here... i just had to..._

_and notice the change of genre? yep, this will be angst filled... you can see fluff if you squint..._

* * *

_Creak._

_Swish._

_Thud._

_Yelp._

"Mai... It's me." Sokka stuttered, having barely managed to stay on his feet after dodging the blades that were aimed to immobilize him. He slowly moved his head closer to the doorway of Mai's bedroom to peek inside, carefully eyeing flying blades that may come for him.

"Sokka?" Mai asked, voice groggy from sleep. She raised her empty hands to move the curtain of bangs from her forehead. "What are you doing here?"

Knowing that she had now recognized he was not a threat, Sokka thought it was safe enough to enter the room. With calculated steps, he moved into Mai's view.

"Damn precision on blades! I swear if I haven't practiced with you as long as I had, you would've started another war with the Southern Water Tribes. I'll have you know, my sister will not tolerate having me killed for bringing in food for apology." Sensing nothing from Mai, Sokka continued. "I know I'm late, but I'm here for... dinner?" It's not a question, but the inflection in his voice made him question himself. He raised the basket he carried with him as if proof that he was indeed there for dinner.

"A little late?" Mai scoffed. "It's almost dawn, Sokka. Last I checked, dinner's during dusk."

"I'm sorry. The Mechanist was quite a talker. He was telling me all this great stuff he invented and we got sort of carried away with the conversation. I didn't realize what time it was until I heard the restaurant across the inn close for the night." Sokka replied. He raised his arms trying to reach for Mai. His eyes are still adjusting with the lack of light in Mai's room and had to rely on his hearing by going to the direction he heard Mai spoke.

Since Sokka told Mai about his intention of staying in the Fire Nation instead of going back to South Pole with Katara, he looked for the closest inn from her house. It just didn't felt right for him to stay at the palace when the whole reason he was staying was to continue seeing the Fire Lord's girlfriend.

A few days later, The Mechanist visited the palace to discuss the inventions he had that would help with the agricultural plans they have for the nation. Since the war was over, he was busy thinking of other things to invent instead of war weapons. Knowing Sokka, Mai informed him about the visit and Sokka didn't waste time in inviting The Mechanist for lunch. Mai didn't expect it would mean Sokka forgetting their dinner appointment. Lately, it's been their unvoiced agreement to meet everyday for dinner. Tonight was not an exception.

"Get out." Mai sounded no longer sleepy and more commanding.

"Huh?" Sokka tried to not sound confused, but he thought he must've heard wrong.

"What part of 'get out' do you not understand?" Mai's tone was so even Sokka couldn't tell if she's about to launch another series of attack on him if he didn't begin moving. He saw her shifted in the shadows and decided to act.

"Mai, I already said I'm sorry. You don't have to be so mad. I had to pay extra just to have the lady across the street to prepare this food for us." Sokka said, almost pleading. He saw her move again, and this time, he could tell she was on the edge of her bed, the right side.

"Surely, you don't expect me to eat that food with you in my night gown?" Mai stood on her bedside. She walked towards her closet and pulled the closet door open.

Sokka blushed. Looking at the faint form of Mai, dimly illuminated with what little light the outside moonlight can offer, he noticed that Mai was wearing a thin veil of sleeping gown. He suddenly wondered where she keeps her daggers.

"Oh. OH!" He scratched the back of his neck. "I'll... just be... waiting... for you... outside... yes, outside. Okay?" He spoke in broken words as he walked on tip toes slowly back to the waiting room outside of Mai's bedroom. As he tried to sneak another peek to the bedroom before his last step out of the room, a dagger flew to the wall near where his face was leaning on. He let out another yelp and pulled himself far from danger.

Sokka settled the basket on the table in front of the couch in the waiting room. The windows were just slightly ajar allowing enough light to brighten the room. The last window to the left was where he came in from and he just noticed how sloppy he really was with sneaking up. It's the only window that was fully open.

"So, what do you have for me?" Mai said, startling Sokka. He had to praise her stealthy abilities and wished he had the same. Despite the length of the couch, she sat beside him, just barely five inches away from each other. She was wearing a regular maroon robe, tied close by a black sash on her waist, hiding her flimsy night gown.

"Some meat bun, dumplings, egg rolls, rice cakes and your favorite... fruit tarts." He placed each item from the basket to the table as he named each of them. He made sure the fruit tarts were the last since Zuko once told him about the time she asked him for it. He gave his biggest smile thinking he surprised her with that. However, Mai merely looked at the fruit tart and gave no expression at all.

"It's not really my favorite." She picked one of the fruit tarts and before biting on it, she continued, "But I like it."

Sokka maintained his smile, though it slightly turned to just one of his regular smiles. He reached for the meat bun and began munching on it. Just as he was done putting the last half of the bun to his mouth, Mai deftly reached for his neck and forced him to bend sidewards and land his head on her lap. His waist complained for the way his upper torso was uncomfortably leaning towards Mai, but his face revelled with the softness of Mai's thighs. Though he liked the feeling, he tried to sit up again only to be held back by Mai's powerful grip on his shoulder. He didn't even noticed when she moved her hands from his neck.

"Quiet, and stay still." Mai whispered through his ears while leaning forward to take another fruit tart from the table.

"Mai?" A sleepy voice came from the hallway. How did she even know there was somebody approaching, he can only imagine. Maybe she had the same gift as Toph had. He again hoped he had the same talent.

"Yes, mom?" Mai didn't turn around to look at the person by the doorway. She knew her mother's voice even when she's in dreamland.

"We heard noises coming from here and... what are you doing staying up this late?" Mai's mother stepped closer to the waiting room. Sokka felt Mai tensed from underneath him and he knew that if her mother got any closer to the couch, he will be discovered.

"I couldn't sleep, so I praticed. I got hungry, so I'm now eating." She had to turn to her this time. She waved her hand and pointed to the daggers still on the wall to her bedroom and she bit on the fruit tart she held and nonchalantly chew on it. Mai's mother flinched at the sight of the daggers and stepped back.

"I don't understand why you had to skip dinner anyway." She stifled a yawn and turned back towards the hallway.

Sokka made the slightest move and twisted himself to look at Mai. Mai didn't spare him a look but he knew she knew what he wanted to tell her because she just shrugged her shoulders and ran her hands on his arms, as if saying he's forgiven. He turned back to face the table and rubbed his hands on Mai's knees in return.

"Just keep it down, Mai. You don't want to wake your brother." Her mother said, before completely exiting the room.

"Yes Mom!" She said before biting on the rest of the fruit tart. She waited till she's well out of sight before turning to the man sighing contently on her lap. "Aren't you getting too comfortable?"

"So soft..." Sokka drawled, running his fingers on the cloth covering Mai's knees. Mai rolled her eyes but later shivered when she felt Sokka's fingers roam higher, away from her knees.

"Hand me those egg rolls, or you won't have any use for those fingers anymore." Her voice still monotonous but Sokka knew better than to test her limits. He didn't know how far she'd let Zuko touch her but he didn't want to know.

He hesitantly sat up and reached for the egg rolls and the chopsticks handing it over to Mai. A smirk suddenly played on her face and instead of accepting the egg rolls and chopsticks, she shoved it back to Sokka.

"Feed me."

At first Sokka didn't know how to react but to raised his eyebrows and widen his eyes to question her. However, Mai raised her eyebrow in response and Sokka just couldn't stop himself from smiling anymore.

"Gladly!"

* * *

Mai walked to the large windows of her waiting room, looking out for the person she was supposed to meet. The sun played with the clouds above the palace's towers, casting shadows to some parts of the palace grounds and the street below. The wind was teasing, still a bit cold, but the heat from the afternoon sun was enough to provide warmth. It was a perfect day for practice.

A pair of warm arms crawled on her waist crisscrossing from behind. The person's breath on her ears brought shivers to her spine. The smell of his skin brought back memories of the almost forgotten past, a reminder of who she wants, the person she loves.

He is not Sokka. No. Sokka would, _could_ not sneak on her like this. This. He...

"Zuko?"

"Hmm..." he hummed on her neck and his hold tightens. She melted in the embrace and almost forgot her train of thought. She closed her eyes as she leaned back to him, placing her hands on his.

"What are you doing here?" She turned her head to his, unintentionally closing the distance between their lips. He took this an opportunity and placed a chaste kiss on her lips.

"I missed you." Zuko said. His voice so soft she wouldn't have heard him if he wasn't this close to her. She twisted from his hold and faced him, never letting go of his hands. "The palace guards said that you have not visited the palace lately. I'm sorry I haven't been able to meet you as much as I want. Things have been so hectic. I hope I haven't scared you away."

Mai felt guilt eating her from the insides, slowly creeping up from the bottom of her stomach, stopping to clutch at her heart. She couldn't look into his golden, expecting eyes. She couldn't lie to him, but she couldn't tell him the truth either. Instead she looked down to their hands, involuntarily squeezing on it on impulse.

"The council said that I could use some free time and..." Zuko released one of his hands to place it on her chin, forcing her to look at him. "I thought I could have a late lunch with you."

She saw delight in his eyes and the grip on her heart made her catch her breath. She felt the world around her closing in on her. She shook away her feeling and reminded herself of the love she have for the man in front of her. She raised her free hand to cup his cheeks, leaned forward to capture his lips for a passionate kiss. Letting go of his cheeks, she slowly placed it to the back of his neck as his free hand came resting on her back, pulling her closer.

For a moment, there was nobody except her and Zuko. Everything else didn't matter anymore. But as if the whole universe loves to remind her of the things she'd already forgotten, she felt another presence just outside her room. She waited till Zuko broke the kiss to steal a glance at the retreating shadow on the hallway. All she could do was to release her hold on Zuko's other hand to have both clutch on Zuko's back and hugged him tightly, afraid that if she didn't Zuko would suddenly disappear.

"I'll take that as a yes, then." Mai nodded on his chest. Zuko rubbed her back and she was glad that he didn't seem to notice what _she_ did.

* * *

Mai shifted in Zuko's arms as her right leg lost the feeling of the flow of her blood through her veins minutes ago. She later winced as she felt needles pricking the same leg after a few seconds. They were sitting on the plush red sofa in the Fire Lord's chamber, overlooking the night city, after sharing dinner - a romantic one, as the servants had described it.

She agreed to Zuko's extended invitation saying "I don't know when I will have the luxury of spending time with you again, after this" and convinced her that she would like it.

Well, to be honest, she did like it. She missed the familiar feel of Zuko's arm around her, his firm shoulder cushioning her head and his taut chest pressed on her back. It's just been so long since she was there, in Zuko's presence, reveling in his attention, enjoying his company. She could stay like this forever. Everything is just peaceful, quiet and delightful.

Then, he just had to invite chaos.

"Mai," He started. "Why won't you accept my proposal?"

She cursed every spirits for hating her. She wanted them to know that she hated them just as much.

She opened her mouth to give him her prepared answer, but somebody else used her mind and spoke for her instead.

"Why do you want to marry me?"

Zuko was surprised. He stirred behind her and she was unintentionally pushed away from him in his sudden movement. Losing the bodily warmth of the Fire Lord, she turned around on her seat to face him. He didn't meet her gaze and was instead looking to the view out the window.

"Because... because... you know..."

Mai sighed. Zuko caught the reaction and counter-reacted by closing his hands on Mai's waist and pulled her back to him. Mai resisted and placed a hand on his chest, maintaining her distance. His lips thinned, then turned to pout.

"If you desperately need an heir to the throne, you can ask other nobleman's daughter to marry you." Zuko's good eye went big, while the left twiched, as Mai reached for the golden string on her neck and undid the clasp. "I'm sure they would be honored to be your wife." She removed the ring from the string and pulled his hands from her waist, forcing the ring to his enclosed hand.

"No!" Mai prepared to leave but Zuko's hand shot up to restrain her and pulled her back to sit beside him, just in time after he moved his legs together.

"If you're worried you don't know them well enough, then you can ask Ty Lee. You grew up practically together too. She wouldn't decline."

"Mai..." He touched her shoulder and gently pulled her to face him. He ran his hands to her arms, passing through some of her stilettos hidden underneath her sleeves, and stopped at her hands that were closed to a fist, resting on the sofa next to her. He raised her hand and tried to pry it open with both of his hands and subtly handed her the ring back. "Please..."

Knowing that Mai wouldn't budge from where she's seated, Zuko pushed himself away from the backrest and enclosed her in a tight embrace.

"I wouldn't ask again... just please..." He buried his face on her shoulder and closed his eyes. Mai slowly raised her hand and looked at the ring through Zuko's head. She gently pushed Zuko away again and faced him.

"Zuko..." Gazing to his eyes, she cupped his cheeks and he leaned to the touch.

"Mai... you know how I feel about you." He closed his eyes and caressed her hand with his own. When he opened them again, Mai could only lean to his arms to hide the doubt in her eyes.

_'Do I?'_

For as long as Mai can remember, Zuko never really did anything for their relationship. Azula had always been the uninvited catalyst since the beginning. It started with taunting Mai of her supposedly secret crush on the then Prince of Fire Nation. She could blame her inability to stop the blush on her cheeks, or Ty Lee for ratting her out to Azula, but the truth is, Azula would sooner found out about it anyway. Zuko would only notice her because Azula called, because Azula teased, because Azula was Azula.

She sometimes thought that maybe Zuko's attention to her was merely just a way of revenge on Azula; by entrapping one of her friends in return to her endless insult. She thought maybe Zuko only saw her as a pawn, as a way of getting back to his sister and she was just disillusioned with her attraction to him to ever see what the Prince has been plotting behind his guise of caring for her. Did he really like her?

Even in the fall of Ba Sing Se, it was her that reached out. If she didn't suggest leaving Azula and Ty Lee, would they even end up together? If she didn't initiate the kiss, would he even make a move? She didn't even know now why she did it. Was she that easy? Was she that weak with Zuko? Darn emotions.

When they returned to the Fire Nation, no matter how much she wanted to think of the happy moments she spent with him, she knew he never returned for her. He returned for his uncle, for his father, for his _honor_. She was just something extra. Something that came with the package, as a bonus.

Even his momentary display of jealousy over her were simply an extension of his confused emotions. Was it really because he's afraid she might love another? Or was it because he felt insecure that somebody else is better than him... again. Was it jealousy or fear that she's leaving him, or was he only afraid that that one person he holds in the palm of his hands would escape his grasp. Was it fear of losing the one person left who truly care for him, since he had so purposely pushed his Uncle to his own cell?

He didn't even had the courtesy of breaking her heart by telling it to her face, he had to do it in a letter. Sure, she'd given him the benefit of the doubt that he's not really good with confrontations, of explaining things, and so guilty of being such an idiot. She told herself, _convinced_ herself, that that's just how Zuko is.

When she betrayed Azula to save him and his new found friends, she convinced herself that he couldn't go back for her since it would defeat the purpose of her saving them in the first place if he gets caught by Azula. She had repeatedly told herself that although he was out there teaching the saviour of the world firebending, while she rot in the prison, he would have always thought of her. She didn't entertain the question if he even wondered if she was alive or if Azula had already disposed of her. Instead, she made herself believe that he didn't have a choice, that he had to believe in her.

And when he defeated Azula, she just thought her Uncle was just so eager to free her that he didn't wait for any word from the new Fire Lord to declare her freedom, or even look for her to free her himself. After all, she heard that he was struck by Azula's lighting and her instinct told her to immediately go to his side and see that he is alright, than ask why hadn't he come for her.

But months of not seeing him, months of not spending time with him after he assumed the role of the Fire Nation's leader, and only be summoned to ask for her hand in marriage after the council had suggested he needs to produce an heir, the questions she had pushed back to the depth of her consciousness so hard had resurfaced.

Did he really feel something for her? Did he really like her? Did he _love_ her?

Maybe he didn't really love her. Maybe she's just here, so comfortably lying in his arms, because she was just someone familiar. Somebody he knew would never leave him. Somebody he's sure of. Somebody he knew really loves him.

But, she chose to ignore the stubborn, _stupid_, voice at the back of her head.

"Look... I didn't let you drag me all the way here just to argue with you..." Mai said, a little too coldly, trying to mask what she's currently feeling. She pulled away and slid her hands to the nape of his neck before he leaned forward to meet her lips in the most passionate way he could to relay his feelings for her. This... this... she thought. Was this enough to make her believe he really love her?

* * *

Zuko awoke to the cold, empty place on the other side of the bed. She had left again. He doesn't understand why she refused to stay till the morning. He tried to ask her, but she just waved it off saying she doesn't have her sleeping clothes. But he knew, he knew it's far more than that, just as he knew why she still refused to move in to the palace. He thought asking her hand for marriage would've been enough, but it seemed to have pushed her further away.

He grunted in frustration and tossed his legs to the bedside, walking away from it. He pulled his closet door open and changed into his training clothes. He then walked to the chest near the bottom of his bed and gathered his broad swords. A little training should be good right now.

* * *

When Mai entered her room, she knew she was not alone. Though, she could not see anybody, the basket that laid on top of the table had given her all the hint she needs to know.

"Isn't it a bit suspicious for a lady like you to be coming home so late?" Sokka's voice came out of the shadows. He stepped out from where he's hiding, on the corner near the entrance of her bedroom, away from the line of sight from the hallway. He had his arms crossed and his eyes are narrowed.

"Suspicious? Is it not more suspicious to be waiting in the shadows inside a lady's room?" She raised an eyebrow, which she later regretted because it was just a wasted effort when Sokka wouldn't probably see it in the dark.

Sokka made a move to walk to her, but stopped and instead walked to the table. Mai was confused, but didn't say anything.

"I just brought food for dinner. But I guess you won't need it anymore." He picked the basket from the table and walked towards the window.

Mai sprinted towards Sokka and caught him just before he opened the window. She held unto his wrist and turned him to face her, causing the basket to swing dangerously in his hands.

"Sokka..."

"You don't have to say anything, Mai." His said before she could continue, his voice was even. "I know my place."

For the second time that day, Mai felt constricted. Her eyes grew wider and her grip on his wrist slackened. Sokka took this time to reach out to her, despite his mind urging him to stop, and place an open palm to the side of her face. He half expected her to close her eyes but instead she looked straight to his, her amber met his blue eyes, unsuccessfully hiding the turmoil of emotions lying underneath.

"I stand by what I said before; no matter who you choose, I will stay with you." He moved his hand to the back of her head and he leaned forward, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. "I just want you to be happy."

This time, Mai did close her eyes, allowing herself to succumb to the helplessness of the situation. She ran her hands along Sokka's arms and inclined to him with the intent of hugging him, but he pushed away from her. With a questioning look, she looked up to him and she was answered by a simple smile.

"It's already late. You must be tired. Go get some sleep and we'll just see each other tomorrow." Her lips thinned, as if remembering of the same promise that was made before. Catching the meaning to her action, Sokka added, "And you better not ditch me again or I'll come barging in here even with your parents still here."

She gave out a small chuckle at the thought and he returned the gesture. He patted the hand still on his arms and smiled at Mai before turning his back on her and opening the window. He stepped on the frame and before jumping out, he turned to Mai and bid her good night. Mai waved at him from the window as he ran on the empty streets towards his room at the inn to rest for the night. After closing the window, she walked back to her room, pausing by the portrait of her and Zuko that still hung on her wall and sighed.

* * *

_I was not supposed to finish it tonight, but i felt that if i didn't my thoughts will escape me and this will be left unfished for another week or so. i didn't have enough time to check for errors (i always seem to make mistakes with the his and her parts), but i'll try to re-edit it for later._


	7. Chapter 7

_...ok, i haven't updated this in a long time... things happened and even though i didn't want to admit it, i sort of hit a writer's block.. i went over my drafts and saw this... i thought i had a maikka version of this somewhere but couldn't find it... so i tried to edit it but it went on to be this long... in the end, i had to break it down... i'll probably work on the next chapter this weekend... _

_...no proofreading was done... so any "typos", ignore them... ^^;_

* * *

Mai watched as the servant carefully and neatly stuffed their bag with her clothing. She raised an eyebrow as the said servant raised her summer wear along her eye level as if measuring it and thinking if it would fit her. The servant's musing was only interrupted by Mai tapping the top of her dresser with one of her manicured nails and she managed to shyly nod to her as if to say "I'm sorry". Mai merely sighed as a way of dismissing her and looked to the approaching form of Zuko through the doorway.

Zuko casually walked towards where Mai was and offered her a small smile before he angled his face the direction of the servant and nodded, signalling her to leave the two of them alone. The servant gave a respectful bow to the Fire Lord before turning to bow to Mai, who already had her back turned away from her. She silently shuffled her way out of the room and as she was closing the door, she managed to slip a glimpse of Mai standing up to meet the Fire Lord halfway and locking her arms around his neck, just as he wrapped his around her waist. The servant quickly closed the door before she even became privy to the private life of the Fire Lord and his girlfriend and swiftly walked away from the room to attend to her other chores.

"So, how did it go?" Mai asked, pulling away from Zuko to look at him. Zuko cast his eyes downwards and Mai knew that it's bad news and she could only frown in response.

Zuko loosened his hold on Mai and she allowed himself free of his embrace. She watched him pace towards the bed to sit down and noticed the way his shoulder sag just as soon as he was seated and his palm automatically connected to his face as if to take off his mask.

"They're being ridiculous!" Zuko complained. He kept his eyes on the floor beneath him and burrowed his brows further. "They don't understand. They "_refuse"_ to understand!"

"Don't they always?" Mai countered. She stepped a little closer to Zuko and gracefully reached for his crown to pull it off his top-knot. She took his hair out of the top knot and loosed his hair, gently massaging his head to soothe him. "It's their job to be difficult, to make things hard on you." She wrapped her left arm around his shoulder and used her right hand to turn him to face her. "And it's your job to let them know why you deserve to be the Fire Lord; to put them into place."

Zuko leaned to her touch and a smile crept on his place. He raised his hand to cup on Mai's hand on his shoulder and looked away from her. "It's different when you're the one who's actually standing up there trying to reason with them. You'd probably won't be able to tell me that if you were there."

Mai felt a stab in his words and thought carefully than to suddenly declare her opinion on the matter. She let her hands fall to the bed behind Zuko and looked at the same floor Zuko was intently staring at earlier. If the floor had a voice, it would have squeaked at the intensity of the stare coming from Mai.

"Mai, I didn't mean to..." Zuko immediately replied but Mai refused to look at him. He felt guilty for keeping her ignorant with what's going on with the meeting and what information were discussed. It was the council's idea, of course, saying that she was his sister's friend and ally and would most likely help her gain back the power, if given the chance. He thought it was stupid but the council had strongly advised him to keep the discussions about the Fire Nation politics strictly inside the meeting room only.

"Of course, you didn't." Mai interrupted him before he even start trying to apologize. It's always been the same and although Zuko didn't tell her the reason, she knew well enough not to pry. "It doesn't really matter."

She stood up and walked towards the unfinished packing of her clothes and Zuko could just follow her with his eyes. When he realized where she was going, his eyes turned into a more pained look.

"Are you done packing yet? Or do you need help with that?" Mai shoved her one last piece of clothing to the bag, leaving the tons of others unattended and zipped the bag. She picked up the bag and threw it to the bench near the wall and looked at Zuko, waiting for answers.

"About that, Mai..." Mai saw Zuko link both of his hands and look back to the floor in front of him. He leaned forward and Mai could only raise an eyebrow at how he's acting. She knew he was about to tell her...

"I can't go."

Mai rolled her eyes at this and walked towards her dresser, acting like she didn't hear him. In fact, this isn't the first time this happened, so it didn't really come as a surprise to her.

"They want me to go to the Earth Kingdom and talk to the King and have them agree with us. They said it's the only way we can make this work."

Mai opened one of the drawers on her dresser to pull out one of her brushes, some of her elastic and walked back to her bag, opened one of the many pockets on its side and stuffed the accessories in. As Mai closed it, Zuko clinched at the sound it made and looked at Mai, who was clearly avoiding him.

"You can come with me. I know we've planned this trip for a long time but I really need to meet with the King. They think we'll have a more successful discussion and resolution if I went there myself to talk this out with the King."

"Ty Lee's birthday cannot be postponed. I haven't seen her in a long time and I don't go back on my promises." Mai simply stated. She walked back to the mess of clothing that the servant left on her bed and picked them one by one before walking back to her closet and neatly arranged everything in before closing the door, leaving behind a soft click.

"Mai, I'm sorry." Zuko's voice sounded sincere enough for Mai to know that he meant it. However, she knew that if circumstances were different, they wouldn't have to have this conversation. Zuko stood up and strode closer Mai and wrapped her in a warm embrace. "I promise, I'll..."

Mai shook her head and murmured a soft "No." She disentangled herself from Zuko and turned to look him straight in the eyes, stopping him in finishing what he was about to say. "I don't need promises, Zuko." _I've had enough of too many broken ones_. Mai sighed and reached for his hands, pulling on him to lead him towards the door. Zuko looked confused for a moment before Mai said "I'm hungry. Let's go get dinner."

Zuko smiled before nodding in agreement and let her lead him to their awaiting dinner. He squeezed on her hand before softly muttering another apology. "I'm really sorry, Mai." Mai looked back to him and offered an empathetic smile before opening the door and walking away from her chambers.

The next day, when Zuko woke up, he lazily swung his legs to the side of the bed and groaned as he felt a throbbing pain in his head. He needed to sleep more but he thought he'd still be able to catch up to Mai to give her a proper goodbye. As he reached for his robe by the edge of their bed, a roll of parchment fell as he grabbed for it. He reached for the parchment and untied the ribbon holding it. As he unrolled the parchment he can distinctly recognize Mai's beautiful calligraphy.

_My Lord_

Zuko closed his eyes. Mai only calls him that when she wants to be formal; when in front of other people. She didn't need to call him Lord unless she wanted to tease.

_Relax._

_You looked so peaceful sleeping like a child that I felt it a shame to wake you up. You needed your sleep. Don't try to catch up because I'm probably halfway to Ember Island by now._

_Take care on your trip to Ba Sing Se and say hello to your friends for me._

_I'll see you in a week._

_Mai_

Zuko rolled the parchment back to place and decided to follow Mai's advice. He went back to bed and slept till the sun came up. He'll leave for Ba Sing Se by then.

Mai looked disinterested as the sandy beach of Ember Island slowly came to view. The last she's been here has been more than a year ago; almost two years at the latest. Ty Lee insisted that they celebrate her birthday there saying "It'll be a lot of fun". She wanted a private party and she only invited only her closest friends. She wanted to bring the whole of the Kyoshi Warriors but she said that Suki had to go to Ba Sing Se and the other warriors didn't want to leave the island without their captain. She wrote to her friends from during her Circus years, but they only returned her letter to say that they have a major event that they needed to attend to on the day before her birthday and they wouldn't be able to make it. She invited Aang, Katara and Toph, but all regretfully declined saying that they had to attend to some important meeting in the Earth Kingdom.

Now that Mai thought about it, it could be the same meeting that Zuko had to attend in Ba Sing Se.

"_I guess, Ty Lee and I are the only two people who didn't have anything important to do."_ Mai inwardly scoffed.

Unconsciously, she fingered the only accessory she was wearing at the moment. A bracelet hidden beneath her long sleeves, clashing unfashionably with her daggers lining her arms. She was not much into fashion anyway, so it doesn't bother her. What did bother her was how she got the bracelet and who gave it to her.

It was just a month ago, when Sokka came to her saying that he needed to leave the Fire Nation. A meeting was to be done in the Southern Water Tribe and his presence was requested by his father. He couldn't tell her the details but he promised to be back in 2 weeks. He said that he was supposed to be making a necklace but due to the suddenness of the request, a bracelet was all he could make. She didn't expect as much, but nevertheless, she was disheartened when he didn't return.

She took the time she was separated from him to reconcile with Zuko, to finally understand and organize her feelings. She thought she d gotten it figured out. But it shocked her that the moment she was away from Zuko, it was seemingly easy for her to remember Sokka.

Mai expected to be greeted by the palace servants that Zuko had informed of their arrival but was surprised to see a lone figure by the gangplank, with only the brightest pink of colors as her only hint to know who it was. Before she knew it, she released a sigh of relief knowing that she won't have to deal with the servants asking where the Fire Lord is.

"MAI!" Ty Lee cheerfully greeted as soon as Mai stepped out of the ship and not a second later, Ty Lee was all over her, engulfing her with a strength of a platypus bear. "I missed you!"

Mai patted her shoulders, smiling through her hair as it covered most of her face. Ty Lee's was not in her usual braids today, but instead her hair was in a semi-top knot, with its half flowing freely down her shoulders. The ribbon holding the top of her hair was pink and had an excess length of ribbon running down her hair as if it was part of it. Her usual acrobat outfit was replaced by a simple cotton top, with lacy trimmings on its edge; on both its sleeves that covers only half of her shoulders and on the edges near her stomach to cover half of it, with a V-shape collar but high enough to cover what needs to be hidden. She's also wearing a wavy skirt instead of a her loose pants and the edges had the same lacy material as the rest of her clothing.

Ty Lee released Mai and looked behind her, before giving her a curious stare, wondering why she's alone. Mai shrugged and nonchalantly answered, "Still saving the world".

Ty Lee face turned sad but managed to offer a warm-hearted smile and she was glad that Mai returned it. She somehow wished things would have turned great for her friend when she learned that Zuko proposed to her, but it seems that they were still going through some troubles in their relationship. Knowing Mai for as long as she had, she knew that Zuko may not even be aware of how things are affecting her friend.

Then just as how suddenly their mood was downcast, Ty Lee reversed it with a simple idea that flared up in her mind. She rushed towards the servant that was carrying Mai's bags and grabbed it from him, whispering a few words, then remembering to bow to thank him before running back to stand next Mai. She placed her free arm around Mai's shoulder, dragging her away from the gangplank.

"There's no way I'm letting my best friend stay in that vacation house alone.. You'll have to share the room with me." Ty Lee shifted her feet and began gleefully skipping through the sand. Just when she was a little too far from Mai, she stopped and whirled in front of a surprised Mai. "This will be lot of fun!"

Mai cast a curious glance at Ty Lee as she took everything from her bag and place it into an empty space on the bed that's almost as big as the one she had when she was still living with her parents. Ty Lee said that she would share a room with her but after talking to the man of the house, she was instead offered a room of her own. The room was not nearly as big as the room she had in the Fire Nation Palace but certainly not nearly as bleak as the one she stayed in Omashu. The bed was covered in the nicest silk material and the rooms was adorned in the most expensive of equipment. Tapestries of red and gold decorated the walls and the dresser sitting on one corner of the room was filled with an assortment of aromatic perfumes and various ointment that noblewomen bathe themselves with to stay young and beautiful. She saw one ointment that she knew her mother would have sell a lock of her hair for, if she could only get one vial of it. She could have sworn the people who owned the house was of royalty if not for the fact that she knew the only royalty in the Fire Nation and this is not his house.

"Let me get this straight," Mai started. Ty Lee continued to rummage through her things and Mai faintly remembered how delicately the servant folded each items of her clothing, only to be carelessly stuffed to the nearby closet by Ty lee. "You... you kept in touch with Chan? Even after we burned their house? Even after the war?"

Ty Lee didn't bother to look at her and instead gave her a hum to indicate that she's listening. She lifted one of Mai's dresses and crinkled her face, shaking her head left and right, before throwing it to the rest of Mai's clothing in the closet. The said dress dropped like a piece of bread on top of the pile.

Mai raised an eyebrow. Whether it was for how Ty Lee was casually tossing around of her clothes, acting like we wasn't even there or for her casual way of handling her questions. "How?"

"Hmm..." Ty Lee answered. She unconsciously bit her lip as she lifted another one of Mai's clothes and laid it on a space on the bed away from the growing pile of things she placed there. She folded the long length of the bottom of the dress and did the same for the sleeves until there were no sleeves at all. She closed one of her eyes in concentration before exclaiming "Perfect!"

"Ty Lee!" Mai impatiently called her friend's attention. "Can you stop going through my things and answer my question."

"Uh, what?" Ty Lee looked at her that she just realized she was there. Mai sighed and rolled her eyes. However before she repeated her questions, Ty Lee began telling her the story.

"Well, let's see..." She began placing the pile of Mai's clothes to an empty closet by the other side of the room and thoughtfully hung the clothes in. "After the war, I invited the Kiyoshi Warriors here. Suki had been to Ember Island so it was easy to convince the girls that it would be fun to spend the time at a different beach, not that Kyoshi's beach was not fun, but the Unagi still scares the living daylights out of me, but the Elephant Koi are really pretty, Mai, you should see them. They have this really colorful skin, oh wait, is it their scale, I think it was their skin, but Sokka told me it's their scale..."

"Ty Lee..." Mai interrupted.

"Ah yes... Chan..." Ty Lee continued. She walked back to Mai's bag and carried it over to place at the bottom of the closet. "Well, when we got here, I saw her and Ruon Jian lying by the sand looking around the girls, like many guys their age do, you know, look at pretty girls, and see if they can hook up with them, acting all macho and suave..." Mai cleared her throat. "Not that Zuko would ever do that..." Mai gave out another sigh and Ty Lee almost felt her knees buckle. She knew that sigh and didn't want what will happened after that to happen. She flopped down back to the bed and laid her back down, crossing her arms beneath her head to act as her pillow. She stared at the ceiling, carefully avoiding Mai's stares.

"He saw me and the girls and he looked really silly. He was torn between wanting to run away and running towards me so I can introduce him to the girls. Naturally, his masculinity won over, or would it rather be his stupidity, but he wouldn't really like it when I say it that way. Anyway, he invited us over for dinner." Ty Lee sat back up and coyly winked at her saying "..and the rest as they say is history."

Mai scoffed at the expression and stood up to go outside the room. "Whatever."

Ty Lee ran towards to catch up to her and linked her arms with her and gently stopped her from moving forward. "You're not leaving are you. You can't go back to the Fire Nation Palace. I've got a big celebration prepared for us. It's my eighteenth birthday, Mai." Her eyes were pleading and Mai couldn't help but turn away from them in fear that she might be affected. "Look, I wish Zuko was here too. I had plans for the four of us. But since he's not here, I guess, it'll be his loss. See, Chan even bought me this dress for me for this event." Ty Lee whirled in front her and Mai felt her head ache at the dancing color. She grabbed Ty Lee's shoulder to stop the spinning and she gathered her wits to stop herself from reacting to Ty Lee's last revelation.

"I'm just going to tell people from Zuko's vacation house that I'll be staying here. I don't want them to think that something happened to me and I didn't get here." Mai explained.

"That's already taken care of." Ty Lee immediately answered. Mai raised an eyebrow at that and she just knew that there must be a reason nobody welcomed her except for Ty Lee. She simply shrugged and thought nothing of it.

Suddenly, Mai felt Ty Lee tug at her arms, Ty Lee looking like a girl who got caught with a cookie. "Mai, we've got to hurry!"

Just when she thought she had seen the worse of Ty Lee's cheerfulness that day, Ty Lee gave her a Cheshire grin and she could almost feel the hair on her neck stand.


	8. Chapter 8

_...took me a while to get back on this fic and i think i will have to blame it with my being reacquainted with anime...^^;_

_...i thought it would be easier for me to write this since i already decided this will be the last chapter but i ended up with too much to write and diverting to different directions... but oh well, i think i can still find a way to eventually end this somehow..._

_... shout-out to _**_A Goat_**_... thanks for keeping up with this story and sorry this took so long... let me know how you want this to end and i will see what i can do about it... i already have one in mind (since the "epilogue" is already written) but as long as it's not posted yet, it's not counted, right? ^^;_

* * *

Mai looked at a boat that was nearing the island and unconsciously wished that somehow it would bring her some good news. She knew of course that it will not happen but with the way things are, she couldn't think of anything else. She heard the blaring sound of music coming from within the house and fought the urge to cover her ears to block out the noise.

Once the party had started, she somehow ended up walking towards the veranda and staring off to the sea. The sun had already set a few hours ago and the beach was mostly deserted except for a few couples taking a night stroll by the beach. She saw a few of them look up to the noisy beach house behind her, but after realizing which house it was, simply walked on past and continued on to wherever they planned, or not planned, on going.

With the evening wind blowing Mai's hair in annoying directions, she immediately regretted not tying her hair in her usual buns. Today, she had her hair tied on a top knot, with the rest of her hair flowing smoothly across her back. She wouldn't have done it if not for Ty Lee's request that she let her hair down, even just for the night.

She raised a single hand to clip a stubborn piece of hair that had decided to continuously annoy her behind her ear. Just as she did, the bracelet she had been wearing slid down her arms and her eyes followed it. She moved the bracelet further away from her hand and looked more intently at the hand-woven and only piece of accessory that she ever allowed herself to wear.

_"Here, I made it for you" Sokka pulled Mai's hands and began tying his handiwork on her left arm. "I've been making this for a while now. It was supposed to be a necklace but since I have to leave today, I thought I might as well just do a bracelet instead."_

Mai looked at the bracelet and ran a finger to touch it. She had not seen Sokka since he gave her the bracelet and since then she had not forgotten to wear it. For some strange reason, to which she was both grateful of and curious about, Zuko had not asked her where she got it or why she's even wearing it. However, whenever she saw Zuko look at it, his eyes saddened and he would later see to it that he spends more time with her than usual. She knew there was surely something wrong with how he's acting but having to spend more time with him had her turning a blind eye to it and ignore her nagging conscience telling her to come clean with it. Instead, she decided to just hide the bracelet whenever she's with Zuko.

Since the month she last saw Sokka, he had been sending her letters about his whereabouts and what he was doing. However, she was unable to reply to his messages. It's not that she didn't want to, or maybe it was partly because of that, but she just didn't know where she would send it. She had been too cautious to send a letter to him addressed to the South Pole knowing that it could be received by others instead of him. Even if she did write him a letter, she didn't know what to tell him. Telling him that she had gotten back with Zuko and had accepted to live in one of the chambers in the palace would definitely dampen the relationship they had.

Relationship. She didn't even think they had a relationship.

Sighing to herself, Mai decided that too much brooding over something that she didn't even know would have any future wouldn't help her.

Brooding.

Mai let out a small chuckle at the thought. _"I wonder what Zuko is doing right now."_

"I didn't know that you now have a hobby of laughing with yourself."

Faster than her daggers, Mai whipped around to see the lone figure standing between her and the crowd of jubilant teenagers dancing and prancing around inside of the Chan beach house. The light inside the house clouded the person's face and casted his facial expression in shadows but she knew who he was and she could feel the smile directed at her.

"Right now, I know you would be asking, what I am doing here?" he asked, pointing to himself as a gesture. Somehow, she could tell he was raising an eyebrow at her and she stopped herself from doing the same action. Instead, she continued to stare at him. "Why of course, I'm here for the free food!" he explained, half-turning to the open door, finishing with a raise of his hand to point in the direction of the table inside littered with tons of food for the party.

The momentary light that graced his face made Mai realize how much he'd change for the past month. His face, though still the same as she last remembered him to look, had grown a little thinner. She saw his eyes slyly turn back at her and she felt her face heat up.

"What? No 'I miss you Sokka!' or 'where have you been, I felt lost without you'?" he said as he slowly started to coyly shorten the distance between them. Mai stood still, though if it was for just waiting for him to come closer or for not trusting herself to not run away from where she stood, she really didn't know. This was just Sokka. The man she had been just thinking about a few minutes ago. Right, no reason to feel so flustered about at all. If anything, Mai knew how to clamp down any reaction he could squeeze out of her. But right now, she was beginning to doubt if she still have the ability to do that herself.

"You know," he said, stopping on his track, looking off to his side. "I wish you'd just say something."

When Mai didn't say anything, Sokka sighed dejectedly and as he looked back at her, he smiled. The smile didn't quite reach his eyes and Mai had to reprimand herself for not doing anything.

"Well, I guess I should just leave you to laugh with yourself then. Sorry for interrupting." He said with finality.

"You've lost weight." Mai managed to blurt out just as he was turning around towards the door. "Missing the Fire Nation food already?"

And just as sudden as her comment, Sokka had closed the distance between them, wrapping her in his embrace. Mai had only a second to brace herself from hitting the railing with her back and had to mentally curse Sokka.

"You look really great too. I think I like your hair better this way." The bright, mischievous smile that Sokka wore when he hesitantly disentangled himself from her was enough for her to show him one of her own smiles in return.

"You're worse than Ty Lee."

And somehow, the party was not as boring as it had been a few minutes ago.

* * *

It had been 4 days since she arrived in Ember Island. It was hot and humid and normally she'd already complained of boredom of not being able to do anything else except to swim in the beach, and she didn't even enjoy it much. The party that Chan had prepared for Ty Lee two days ago had been momentarily entertaining. The party itself was really boring, but it was how it ended that Mai found most amusing.

Somehow, during the party, Chan made a stupid mistake of trying to hit on another girl while Ty Lee was busy talking to Ruon Jian. He had to spend the night - till morning as what Mai later found out - splayed out and unable to move on the sandy beach of the island hoping the tide won't reach his head. At the end of the next day, Ty Lee eventually ended up dating Ruon Jian much to Chan's chagrin. Despite Ty Lee and Chan's breakup and her dating Ruon Jian, Chan still let them stay in their beach house for the remainder of their vacation in the Ember Island.

The fact that she was reunited with Sokka again might have been on top of her list of reasons not to hate Ember Island so much too.

Apparently, Sokka was also part of the big meeting that was held in the Earth Kingdom, as he later told her. But after providing his inputs and ideas on the field, he decided it would be up to his father and Katara to hold the argument with the other nations. Knowing that Mai would be attending Ty Lee's birthday celebration, he thought that he would still be able to catch up, thus seeing her again. Sokka remained cryptic about the reasons he hadn't returned to Fire Nation and explained that he would have to return to the South Pole after the weeklong celebration is over. Since she knew that her time with him was limited, she didn't push further into finding out the truth about it. There would be another time for that, she had told herself.

Mai twirled the base of one of her daggers with her right forefinger while waiting for Sokka. She was supposed to meet him at sunrise in front of Chan's beach house and although it's still a bit early and the stars were still shining brightly on the darkened sky, Mai was anxious to start their last day on the island.

Sokka had promised that they would spar later today. After a long time of not being able to fight him, she wanted to know how far he had improved. She wanted to start after breakfast but he had insisted that they do it after lunch. He mentioned something about a plan he had for them and that it wouldn't work unless it was before noon.

"I hope this means that you were just too excited to see me again and I'm not really late." Sokka casually walked to the rock where Mai was sitting with her back to him. With his limited view, he saw a glint of light on her dagger and a slight of hand as Mai returned it back to its place in her sleeves.

"If that's our breakfast, I hope you're still on a diet because I don't think that would be enough for both of us." Mai remarked, warily eyeing the basket that Sokka was holding.

"Oh, this? This is only part of our breakfast. The rest... well, you'll see." Sokka cheekily stated. He offered his right hand to Mai but she merely looked at it before skipping by another rock and then walking past him.

"I can only assume you mean you are still going to prepare breakfast and so, we don't have time to be dawdling here." was her only cold reply. However, instead of getting offended, Sokka simply took it as a challenge and with practised agility yet gentle movement, he slipped his hand on her and grasped it before leading her away.

As Mai had expected, Sokka still had to prepare their breakfast. The basket only contained a loaf of bread, a few sweets and two sets of chopsticks. The place Sokka had lead them to though was what made the whole experience better. She didn't know how he found the place, but she had to give him credits for the effort.

It was a secluded river with a waterfall at the end of it. Just below the waterfall and a few meters away, was a canopy of forest trees, with a few scattered flowers by the river's edge. At first glance, it sort of reminded her of their garden but with a more natural feel. Because of the rising sun, the waterfall formed a small rainbow and Mai didn't know if she should be in awe of the beauty of it or be nauseated with the abundance of the color surrounding her.

"It's not as flashy as your garden, but this is bigger and I personally think this is better. " Sokka declared. "And it's most beautiful when it's just after the sunrise. It gets a bit gloomy during noon because the sun is blocked by those trees, unlike when the sun rays are coming from an angle such as now."

Mai looked at him and before she uttered a word of praise for orchestrating something like this, she instead said, "Aren't we here for breakfast?"

Flustered at Mai's statement, Sokka went about to preparing breakfast. Sokka had to literally fish for their food and when he only managed to get two fishes, despite his claim that he was the best hunter in their tribe, she had to step up and help catch - or pin - the fishes. Sokka had mumbled something about men having to be ones who should provide food for the ladies but she decided that ignoring it was easier than having to endure being hungry.

By the time they had the fish cooked and the breakfast finally ready, Mai was so hungry she was ready to make a pin cushion out of Sokka. Nevertheless, they ate their breakfast in silence, watching the waterfall from afar, the birds chirping around them, while they sat on a mat laid underneath a tree, shading them from the sun.

Mai may have already complained for such treatment much earlier and would have killed anybody who had caused her to go through such a predicament, but looking around her, she didn't felt so confined to express such discontent. For most of her life, she had people servicing her with things she needed and for the first time, she experienced going for something she never thought she'd do. Though she refused to touch or get it from the river, she went down and caught the fish she was now eating. She ate a fish that was cooked from a fire that Sokka had just made instead of the luxurious kitchens of their estate or the fire nation palace.

It was unlady-like, not high-class, not fit for the next fire lady, and not for nobles like her. But from where she was at the moment, where there was just her and Sokka, she couldn't care less.

All that mattered was they were there to spend time together and eat breakfast.

* * *

Mai was already waiting in his chambers when Zuko returned from his meeting in the Earth Kingdom. She absentmindedly was playing with her bracelet when Zuko entered and was momentarily surprised when she saw him. Half of her wanted to run and go to him while the other half wanted her to stay seated. The other half won.

"Zuko, we need to talk."


	9. Final

_...finally, done with it..._

_...__**A Goat**__: please know how terribly sorry i am for procrastinating... this has gone far too long... i always say i don't believe in writer's block, but being uninspired can be really annoying...hope you still enjoy this, no matter how seemingly rushed the ending is..._

* * *

_Dearest Mai,_

_Hope you are well upon receiving this._

_Sokka has been pestering me about you. I did all I can to dissuade him but he was persistent. In the end, he said that if it was your intention to avoid him, then he would respect that. He just want to know if you are okay and if you are happy. He looked genuinely hurt, Mai. I was so close to telling him you are in Gaoling but my friendship with you has far more depth than my empathy for him. I just wish you'd tell him yourself how you are._

_Zuko probably knows where you are. He hasn't been asking me about you anymore but he still looks at me like I'm guilty of something. Oh, did I tell you he was just as persistent as Sokka was with asking me where you are? But knowing him, you should really maybe thinking of moving somewhere else because he's probably got you monitored now._

_You know, I still fell sorry for him though. He's still not married and I heard from some blabbering servants at the palace when Suki and I last visited him that he's been arguing a lot with his Council. There were still incessantly persuading him to agreeing to an arrange marriage with some nobleman's daughter in Fire Nation. I think they even mentioned marrying him off to some other nation's girl of noble blood as this would further their conquest of reuniting nations. They said he walked off the meeting flaring up and didn't come out of his chambers for days._

_He still loves you, Mai. I just know it. His aura is so gloomy, it often reminds me of yours, but a bit on a lighter side. No offense. He once slipped up and told me that he misses you and will continue to wait for you even if it takes forever. That may not be his exact words, but I think that's what he meant. I find it romantic, but Mai, please don't wait forever._

_I have to go. Suki's calling me. I'm late for our training. She's gonna be hell to deal with if I don't come out this moment. Gee, she's scaring the messenger hawk with her screaming._

_Say hi to Toph for me. And say hello to his fiance as well. I can't believe she's marrying ahead of us. I better find me some cutie soon before she even bear her first child. I just don't want to be a godmother before I'm married._

_Oh, ok. This is really it. Write back soon, okay._

_Your friend,_  
_Ty Lee_

Mai carefully rolled the parchment and tucked it back into her sleeves. She looked in front of her as the sun shied away from sight and hid beneath the canopy of clouds. She released a defeated sigh she never thought she held and looked ahead as the sun peeked a little, only to be slowly swallowed by the horizon before it finally set to give away to the dark sky. It felt like it was just yesterday when she witnessed the same scene, albeit from different locations and together with different companions. It's just ironic that right now she's looking at it with sadness in her eyes, alone.

It's been five years since she made the decision to leave the Fire Nation and started wandering the many places of Earth Kingdom. It's also been five years since she said goodbye to both Zuko and Sokka.

After returning from Ty Lee's week long celebration in Ember Island, she went straight to Zuko's chambers. She knew that he would be coming in later that evening and if she were to talk to him, she had to do it as soon as he arrived. Any second late and she would have lost the will to do what she was set to do. She just had to end the craziness.

She expected Zuko to be extremely angry, violent or intense. However, Zuko's reaction to her revelation of her secret affairs with Sokka was nothing but that. He simply looked at her, calm and composed, and declared that he'd known all along. He said that he had just been waiting for her to tell him and knew that if he were to question her about it, it would just incite a fight between them. He also explained that even though it pained him to know that she had been spending time with another man, he had no choice but to accept it. He had to accept it because he was afraid to lose her.

It wasn't her intention to end it right there. She simply wanted to come clean with Zuko, but her conscience and her pride had dictated otherwise. She knew she cannot stay with Zuko knowing what she just found out. She hated herself for hurting him. She hated herself for being selfish. And most importantly, she hated herself for letting it get to this.

That night, despite Zuko's pleas of stopping her, she left the palace. And without informing her parents, she fled the Capital City. She didn't know where to go, but she thought that staying in the Fire Nation was out of the question.

That night, she left Zuko. She left him without telling him that she already ended everything with Sokka.

For the first few days, she found herself in an unnamed boat to the Earth Kingdom. She didn't know where she would go, but thinking about going to a place where no one knew her was the best idea she had. It wasn't long though that she was found by Toph, who at that time was looking for new recruits for her new school. Luckily, Sokka was not with her, but unlucky for her, she couldn't lie to Toph and had to tell her about what in the world was she doing in the Earth Kingdom, in Earth Kingdom Clothes.

Things hadn't been simple living under Toph's shelter, but she was thankful for the company. Despite not wanting to admit it, it was an educational journey for both of them.

The sound of rustling leaves brought her back to the present. She glanced slightly to her right, readying herself to launch at whatever or whoever was hiding within the bushes. Her fingers tighten on a dagger on her left arm, her muscles tightening. There was tiny bit of vibration on the ground before she saw the ground rise up to reveal Toph emerging from the trees surrounding her little hideaway. She relaxed her hands and stood to properly greet her noble friend, swatting the dirt off her skirt.

"Ah! I knew I'd find our little recluse here." Toph declared as she stopped in front of Mai. She turned to her right before shouting, "Hey, she's here. Come over here already."

"Little huh? Coming from somebody who's still shorter than me, maybe I should call you tiny." Mai countered. Toph may have gotten a bit taller with age, but Mai still towers over her by a few inches.

As if to answer her insults, a handful of dirt showered Mai and covered her hair. Mai squinted to prevent some of the dirt from falling over her eyes and her hand immediately conjured a couple of daggers from her sleeves.

"Bring it on, hermit!" Toph shouted, eyes glinting with mischievousness.

"Toph! Lady Mai! Please stop this." A man's voice broke the silence between the two warriors but neither of them looked away. It was only when the owner of the voice came to view and walked over to touch Toph's shoulder did Mai relax her posture.

"We were just having fun, you doofus. Now, you just ruined it." Toph swatted the hand on her shoulder and smiled. "And besides, unlike you, I can dodge her daggers."

"But isn't that the reason we were practicing earlier? I was able to counter 80% of your attacks didn't I?" The boy timidly answered. He had been wearing a nobleman's clothes but he was partly covered in dirt; proof that he and Toph had been earthbending.

"So what, 20% still hit you. And you haven't mastered Metal Bending either."

Mai looked on as the two bantered on and rolled her eyes. The man may have been too timid for the likes of Toph, but she knew that he can still hold his own in a fight. She had fought him before and although she had won every fight, she didn't get away unscathed.

Seeing that the two were too preoccupied with their own talks, she slowly began walking away from them. Although her solitary time had been interrupted, she was actually about to go back to mansion anyway so they just wasted their time looking for her. She reminded herself though that she'd have to find another secluded spot tomorrow where they won't locate her.

"Wait there missy, you're not getting away that easy." Toph moved the ground underneath the both of them to bring them face-to-face.

"I really would appreciate if you stopped doing that. I can walk on my own, thank you very much." Mai grimaced after nearly falling off her feet. She should have been used to it by now, but that didn't mean it didn't still annoy her.

"Oh! Shut it. I still have things to talk to you about." Toph's un-moving blank eyes stared at Mai and although she knew that she could not see her, she knew that Toph can still tell that she felt nervous somehow.

Mai rolled her eyes and turned around. "I already said it's okay, right? How many times are you going to ask me about it. It's your wedding, not mine. You can invite whoever you want. They're your friends."

"You know I'm still mad at you for breaking Sokka's heart, right?" Mai stiffened at the sudden confession of Toph and she knew Toph felt it too. She turned her gaze to the earth beneath her but before she can reply, Toph continued. "You got to do first base with him and I couldn't even get a kiss on the cheek"

"Toph!" The forgotten man behind them suddenly interjected. Apparently, even with how direct Toph was, her fiancee was still not used to her way with words.

"Relax, sweetheart. You'll get all bases with me." The said man blushed and stammered a reply but was a little too slow. In a moment's notice, Toph had turned around and skidded back to her soon-to-be-husband and grabbed his arms. "Come on, we still have time to practice before dinner"

The man blushed a deep red that Mai could have sworn his face could rival the color of her headband. Despite Mai's Earth Kingdom clothes, she retained a little bit Fire Nation accessory with her. Since she had forgone her twin buns, preferring a shoulder length hairdo, she had been wearing a maroon silk headband.

"I mean, we practice earthbending, you idiot. Stop trying to kiss me already." She heard Toph say before she muffled a giggle, as their voices faded amongst the forest behind her.

The wedding was simple. Mai was surprised that despite Toph's or rather the Bei Fong's stature, the wedding of their only daughter was nothing extravagant and had only a few respectable guests in attendance. Standing beside one of the pillars of the big room they were in, Mai leaned on the wall and sipped on her wine. She looked around and saw a few familiar faces; faces she'd rather not see and faces she'd never thought she'd ever see again.

The moment Zuko arrived, she had tried to avoid him but she could feel his gaze upon her a few times she walked around the room trying to hide. She knew it was inevitable to meet him again since she agreed to have Toph invite them. After all, as she had just said, they were her friends and she didn't want to be selfish. She didn't want to skip the wedding either because in spite of not really being a fan of the ceremony, she had become fond of the little earthbender and wouldn't want to miss a special event such as this.

Sokka's arrival was less controversial as Zuko's and only managed to turn a few head; majority of whom were just curious to see who the loud mouth was, shouting celebratory remarks at the newly weds. When their gazes met though, she was torn between acknowledging it and ignoring it. Sokka had made the decision for her and smiled her way. Gripping the wine glass, she replied with an honest smile.

When the crowd was too much for her to handle, she silently slipped out on the back and as she exited the archway, she came across Zuko.

"Your hair looks nice" Zuko complimented, smiling his crooked grin at her. "When did you cut your hair?"

Mai for a moment closed her eyes and sighed, dragging her feet away from where she stood to walk past Zuko, and into a bench just beyond the archway. The smell of the seaside wafted before them as the evening wind blew across the place where the wedding reception was being held.

"I mean it. It looks nice on you. I've always seen you with your long hair, it's a nice change, you know to see you with short hair. I mean you look nice with short hair."

"Give it up Zuko." Mai cut him. Zuko stopped as he was just about to sit next to her thinking that his efforts were wasted. He started to move to leave her alone when just as suddenly, she continued. "I know this is not the first time you've seen me. You're not exactly stealthy, you know."

"Really, was I that obvious?" Zuko sheepishly slipped to sit beside her. Mai spared her a glance before rolling her eyes and took a moment to reply. Although she never really saw Zuko, she knew he had followed her since he found out where she was staying; just as Ty Lee had said.

"No." Mai curtly answered.

"Then, how did you know that I... oh..." Realizing how he just gave himself away, Zuko bowed his head in shame. How could he fall for the same trick twice? Apparently, years of being a Fire Lord hadn't changed him that much.

"So how are you? What have you been up to?" Despite being nervous, Zuko tried to open the conversation again. However as soon as he tried, he was again shut down by Mai.

"You should already know that too, right?"

"I know. I guess, I just wanted to hear your voice. It's been years since we last talked and things were not that cheery when we last talked."

"I'm not 'cheery'."

"I know!" Zuko snapped. The air between them felt hot and Mai felt her lips were too dry to speak. She sipped the remaining drop of her wine and stared at it as she twirled the empty glass between her fingers.

"I just... you know, I miss you Mai." Zuko turned to face Mai, who remained solemn, still carefully turning the glass in her hand. "And I miss talking to you."

The light from inside the reception area had suddenly dimmed and the two of them were momentarily bathed in the moonlight. It would have made Mai's heart beat faster if not for the fact that Zuko had not made a move besides facing her. His hand were glued flat to the bench they were sitting on and his face still staring at her. When she didn't move to look at him, she felt him turn and slowly rise. By reflex, her free hand grabbed his and without looking at him, she pulled him back to the bench.

"I met with Unc...General Iroh last year." She started. Zuko sat next to her without saying a word, putting both his hand behind him to support him as he leaned back. As he looked up to the star-filled darkened sky, Mai continued her story. "It was when Toph had delivered her invitation for her wedding. According to her, he was especial but I think she just wanted to ask him to serve tea for the reception. I guess, you never told him what happened, huh?"

Zuko could only nod.

"He gave me this." Mai pointed to the silk headband that she had been wearing. Since it was a bit dark, Zuko never really noticed it, but upon close inspection, he noticed the emblem on it. It was the symbol of the royal family.

"That's..." Zuko stammered to tell her what that headband meant, but he was too shocked to continue.

"I refused to accept it, of course. After all, I don't deserve anything of the Royal Family after what I did to you. But your uncle is nothing but persuasive, you know."

"It's my mother's." He finally declared. This time, it was Mai's turn to be shocked and as if by instinct, her hand flew to the headband to remove it. However, Zuko's hand was faster than hers and stopped her from doing so.

"I didn't know..."

"I gave it to Uncle Iroh." Zuko interrupted. "The council didn't stop in forcing me to marry even after we broke up. But I knew I couldn't just marry anybody. I couldn't marry _just anybody_. I went to Uncle Iroh for advise. I didn't tell him the real reason why we broke up but I think he sort of got an idea. Out of options, I gave him that headband and asked him to choose a bride for me. I knew he would know better than me to decide on who should I marry. I never thought he'd give it to you."

Mai looked at the hand that was still holding her wrist and slowly turned hers and used it to intertwined their hands. Zuko's eyes widened at the action and his head turned to her immediately. She knew it was a long shot, but she be a fool to deny what she really wanted.

"I'm willing to try again."

That was all Mai had to say before he, boldly and without hesitation, closed the distance between them.

He heard, rather than saw, Zuko kissing Mai. He was thankful that the crash of the waves beyond them had partially subdued the painful sound. Zuko might have done something, and Sokka wished it was just something he said than did, because Mai giggled. The sound overcoming the hurt he felt just a few seconds ago. He missed that sound. He missed Mai's little expressions of happiness. He already missed Mai.

He trudged back to his friends, nearly tripping the loose sands of Kiyoshi Island. He just wanted to be surrounded by people right now, to help him forget the feeling of jealousy he had no right to feel. But he remembered that Toph was there. Toph would detect his emotions and knowing Toph, she would ask. She would ask until she gets answers, and she will get the answers because she can tell if he was lying. The idea of going back is now getting discouraging and just going back to his room, alone, seems to be the best course of action. Begrudgingly, he turned right and followed the path towards their rooms.

This is not the first time Sokka had tried stealing somebody else's girlfriend. And it's not the first time he lost.

* * *

_...i won't say that i have another maikka in my to-do-list because i don't know when i'll be done with that.. but meh! =P_


End file.
